Becoming Puppet Emperor of a Paranoid Eunuch - Chapter 7

Wu Jing swallowed.

 

Ning Qinghong, however, seemed to lose interest, dropping the pastry, “Fuchen.”

 

Fuchen lowered his head and presented a cloth soaked in hot water, wrung out, to carefully wipe Ning Qinghong’s hands.

 

Wu Jing, on the other hand, wanted something to drink to wash down the sweetness of the osmanthus honey in his mouth.

 

After Ning Qinghong finished cleaning his hands, he glanced sideways at Fuchen.

 

Soon enough, a new cloth was handed to Wu Jing.

 

“His Majesty should wipe as well,” said Fuchen.

 

Wu Jing blinked.

 

Fuchen knew that the Emperor was a fool, so he explained in more detail, “Wipe your hands first, then wipe your mouth.”

 

Wu Jing obediently followed suit, carefully wiping his hands and mouth.

 

Taking back the cloth, Fuchen couldn’t help but praise, “Good child.”

 

While Wu Jing was secretly cursing the Emperor in his heart and didn’t have a good impression of the lackey by his side, he was suddenly praised, and he couldn’t help but look at the eunuch with some inexplicable feeling.

 

Fuchen wore a kindly smile on his face. He was skilled at speaking differently to different people. Now that the Emperor showed some interest, he behaved as amiable as he did a few days ago when they found stray cats and dogs on the roadside.

 

“The Marquis especially chose these two days when His Majesty’s mood is good to visit, showing concern for His Majesty’s well-being, fearing that His Majesty might starve himself,” he said to the Emperor.

 

Whether it was true or false, except for Wu Jing, everyone else in the hall knew it. They all pretended not to hear, and Fuchen continued, “By then, the courtiers will have to fawn over the Marquis again.”

 

Wu Jing listened with a dazed expression, not fully understanding.

 

He showed his confusion on his face, but it seemed that Fuchen didn’t expect a fool to understand. After rambling on, Fuchen sighed, “You toil day and night, yet people outside curse you behind your back. If only you had a legitimate title.”

 

What legitimate title? It was nothing more than making Ning Qinghong the ruler openly, so no one dared to interfere with the eunuch’s power.

 

Every word spoken in the palace had to be twisted several times, and those around him clearly indicated their intention for the Emperor’s position. Wu Jing, the Emperor, couldn’t understand anything.

 

Instead, he glanced boredly at Ning Qinghong, who was looking at the tea mist, lost in thought.

 

He also wanted to drink tea; eating the pastries made him thirsty.

 

For some reason, as soon as Fuchen finished speaking, the Marquis glanced at him and smiled before calmly saying four words, “The time is not right.”

 

What time?

 

Wu Jing was puzzled.

 

Ning Qinghong, seeing the Emperor staring at his tea, kindly asked, “Thirsty?”

 

Wu Jing’s eyes lit up, “Want to drink.” He pointed to his mouth, “Sweet, want water.”

 

Ning Qinghong mimicked his way of speaking, “Your mouth is too sweet, want to tone it down?”

 

This sentence was too complicated for a fool to understand.

 

Wu Jing looked puzzled at the cup of tea, nodding repeatedly, “Brother wants to drink.”

 

Ning Qinghong only gently chided, “You just said you wouldn’t get tired of eating anything.” He said softly, “If I give you more, you’ll want to spit it out, and now you say you want to drink tea because your mouth is too sweet.”

 

He seemed helpless and couldn’t do anything about Wu Jing, just smiled and shook his head, gesturing for Fuchen to pour another cup of tea.

 

Wu Jing felt a little guilty, wondering if he had done something wrong just now, and the other party was being kind.

 

He obediently held the cup of tea and drank it down.

 

The tea was not strong, nor bitter. It had a slight astringency at first, but then it became sweet, and the temperature was just right.

 

Wu Jing had an inexplicable thought.

 

This Marquis probably didn’t like bitterness.

 

When Ning Qinghong was in a good mood, his patience was extraordinary. Usually at such times, he was very easy to talk to and enjoyed chatting.

 

Seeing the Emperor put away the documents and no longer maintaining silence, Fuchen joked, “It’s almost noon. Shall I go and call for lunch?”

 

Ning Qinghong acknowledged with a sound.

 

Fuchen gestured with his eyes, and a eunuch waiting in the hall cleverly withdrew. 

 

As Ning Qinghong stood up, the remaining eunuchs in the hall quickly approached, orderly collecting the documents and other items from the table that he had used, including his writing utensils.

 

Fuchen ordered, “As usual, send them back to the mansion.”

 

Everyone agreed.

 

The eunuchs serving closely were carefully selected from the Imperial Guards, so they weren’t afraid of the contents of the documents leaking out.

 

Wu Jing was frightened by this momentum and sat still in his chair, not daring to move, watching as Fuchen respectfully adjusted the Marquis’s attire.

 

After a moment, Ning Qinghong lowered his smiling eyes and walked leisurely out, appearing very relaxed.

 

Fuchen joked on the side, “The other day, didn’t we send back that milk cat to the Empress Dowager, and she sent some gifts to the mansion to express her gratitude.”

 

Ning Qinghong pondered for a moment, “That’s right.”

 

Fuchen asked, “Shall we accept or return the gifts?”

 

Ning Qinghong smiled, “Let’s return them.”

 

Fuchen understood in his heart that the master was not interested in such items and looked down upon them.

 

Ning Qinghong seemed to recall something, “What happened to the dog we found in the Imperial Garden yesterday?”

 

Fuchen replied, “This… I had someone release it back into the Imperial Garden. I’m not sure.”

 

Ning Qinghong lost interest, “Forget it.”

 

Wu Jing sat in his chair. Even though there were many people in the hall, because the eunuchs were very quiet and far away, he could still hear the conversation between the two.

 

He still held the cup of tea, quietly looking up at the others surrounding the figure in the center wearing a red official robe, all streaming out of the hall together.

 

As for himself, no one paid attention to him and he was left behind.

 

But Wu Jing didn’t mind. He had already decided to give up on clinging to that thigh. After they left, he would go find Sister Yanhe waiting outside and return to the sleeping quarters. He would finish today’s portion of rice gruel and take a nap.

 

He had woken up too early and was still a bit sleepy.

 

“Master, what about His Majesty?”

 

In a daze, Wu Jing seemed to hear the eunuch asking him. He raised his head somewhat blankly and looked over.

 

The young Emperor sat alone in his original spot. His thin figure looked particularly pitiful against the large chair, his weak fingertips holding a jade cup against his lips, with tea mist slowly rising inside, dampening his raised eyelids.

 

He looked like a small animal, ignorant and innocent as he gazed over.

 

Ning Qinghong seemed to just remember that there was still someone there. He turned his head back and smiled meaningfully, beckoning to Wu Jing, “Your Majesty, come here.”

 

“I will take you to have lunch.”

 

No need to eat rice gruel anymore?!

 

Wu Jing couldn’t pretend not to be moved, but he still had to act. As a fool, he didn’t move until he saw Ning Qinghong beckoning to him, then walked forward step by step.

 

With lowered eyes, he joyfully held Ning Qinghong’s outstretched finger, “Brother, will you take Wuwu to eat delicious food?”

 

Wu Jing didn’t mean to, he really thought that when this person reached out his hand, he wanted to hold his own.

 

Seeing the Emperor boldly reach out to grasp the Marquis’s hand, Fuchen immediately lowered his eyes and maintained his composure, not daring to say a word.

 

Ning Qinghong slightly lowered his gaze, looking at the hand being held by Wu Jing, his expression unclear, but he still habitually wore a smile.

 

Wu Jing had just cleaned his hands, so his fingertips were very clean. Because he ate very little and didn’t have much flesh to pinch, his slender fingers couldn’t fully cover Ning Qinghong’s entire hand. So, he cleverly curled his fingers and held onto the Marquis’s last two fingers, loosely wrapping around them, feeling the soft dryness.

 

Slowly, Wu Jing also sensed that something was wrong. He thought he had committed some taboo, and almost instinctively wanted to retract his hand when he met the Marquis’s deep smiley eyes. He almost felt his hair stand on end.

 

He was still scared.

 

No matter how gentle Ning Qinghong seemed, how easy to talk to, Wu Jing was still afraid, like certain herbivorous animals with an innate intuition of predators.

 

But in the next moment, Ning Qinghong grasped Wu Jing’s hand back, softly saying, “Yes, Brother will take Wuwu to eat delicious food.”

 

Wu Jing swallowed his saliva, continued to pretend, and shook Ning Qinghong’s hand, “Then, Brother, let’s go quickly.”

 

Ning Qinghong smiled, “Alright.”

 

It wasn’t until Ning Qinghong led him away for a while that the sharp sense of danger in Wu Jing’s heart slowly receded. He almost thought he had caught some kind of illness.

 

Clearly, the Marquis hadn’t really played any tricks on him, and had even spoken kindly to him.

 

Was he too sensitive?

 

Wu Jing doubted himself.

 

He sneaked a glance at the person beside him. This Marquis was much taller than him, with large hands and distinct joints. But strangely, Wu Jing faintly sensed rough calluses on the other’s hand, not the smoothness he had imagined of someone accustomed to a life of luxury and comfort.

 

It was as if he had endured a lot of hardship,

 

And his memory didn’t seem to be very good either.

 

He remembered the first time they met in the Imperial Garden, when the Marquis even asked, “Who is this person?” It was Fuchen who reminded him that he was the Emperor, and then the Marquis remembered it effortlessly.

 

At that time, Wu Jing didn’t know that the person was the rumored murderer. He also remembered that Yanhe said the Marquis would come to see the original owner every ten days.

 

Or was it that this person only had a poor memory for things he didn’t care about?

 

Wu Jing’s mind was a mess of porridge. He followed Ning Qinghong to a side hall used for dining, and as soon as he entered, he was dumbfounded by the overwhelming variety of dishes spread out on the table.

 

There were chicken, duck, fish, meat, medicinal supplements, warm tea, and wine, as well as fruits and snacks, with everything one could imagine.

 

The aroma wafting into his nose made Wu Jing almost unable to control his saliva. He hadn’t eaten anything decent for almost ten days, and now faced with this feast, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

 

He had just spent so much time with Ning Qinghong, watching the palace attendants respectfully serving the Marquis, and even enjoyed this privilege himself, but he didn’t envy it at all. Instead, he felt anxious.

 

But now, facing the sumptuous feast in front of him, Wu Jing suddenly became firm in his original intention.

 

He must cling to this thigh!

 

He must!!!